Kym Elizabeth Whitley is an American comedian and actress. She is best known for her roles on television sitcoms, such as '' My Brother and Me'', '' Sparks'', ''

Animal Practice ''Animal Practice'' is an American sitcom television series which aired on NBC from August 12 to October 24, 2012, on the network's Fall 2012 television schedule. The series premiered after the end of the 2012 Olympic games (which the network wa ...

'', '' The Boondocks'', ''

Young & Hungry ''Young & Hungry'' is an American Romantic sitcom created by David Holden. The multi-camera series stars Emily Osment, Jonathan Sadowski, Aimee Carrero, Kym Whitley and Rex Lee, and premiered on ABC Family (now Freeform) on June 25, 2014. On ...

'', ''

The Parkers ''The Parkers'' is an American television sitcom aired on UPN from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004. A spin-off of UPN's ''Moesha'', ''The Parkers'' features the mother-daughter team of Nikki (played by Mo'Nique) and Kim Parker (played by Counte ...

'', ''

The Cleveland Show ''The Cleveland Show'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel, and Mike Henry for the Fox Broadcasting Company. A spin-off of ''Family Guy'', the series centers on Cleveland Brown, his new wife Donna Tubbs, and ...

'', and '' Black Dynamite''. Whitley was nominated for a 2004 BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Box Office Movie for her role as Ormandy in the 2003 comedy film ''

Deliver Us From Eva ''Deliver Us from Eva'' is a 2003 American romantic comedy film starring LL Cool J and Gabrielle Union, revolving around LL's character Ray being paid to date a troublesome young lady named Eva (Union). It is considered by many as a modern update ...

''.

Early life and education

Whitley was born in

Shaker Heights Shaker or Shakers may refer to: Religious groups * Shakers, a historically significant Christian sect * Indian Shakers, a smaller Christian denomination Objects and instruments * Shaker (musical instrument), an indirect struck idiophone * Cock ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

to Kaysonia and William Whitley. Her father was a founding partner of the black architectural firm of Whitley and Whitley. Whitley and Whitley was involved with work on

Tower City Center Tower City Center is a large mixed-use facility in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio, on its Public Square. The facility is composed of a number of interconnected office buildings, including Terminal Tower, the Avenue shopping mall, Jack Cleveland Casino ...

, the Cleveland State University Convocation Center, Lincoln Junior High School, the Lee-Harvard Branch of Cleveland Public Library, the Central Area Multi-Service Center, and the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

Guesthouse development. They were also involved in a joint venture to design and build Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field), home to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

. She attended Shaker Heights High School (graduating in 1979) and Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She was initiated into the Alpha Beta chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Career

In 1989, Whitley got her big break starring in Shelly Garrett's popular play ''

Beauty Shop ''Beauty Shop'' is a 2005 American comedy film directed by Bille Woodruff. The film serves as a spin-off of the '' Barbershop'' film franchise, and stars Queen Latifah as Gina, a character first introduced in the 2004 film '' Barbershop 2: Back i ...

'', which started in Los Angeles then later traveled across the U.S. Whitley's major acting roles include the short-lived sitcoms '' My Brother and Me'' and '' Sparks''. She made guest appearances on several television sitcoms, including ''

The Parent 'Hood ''The Parent 'Hood'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on The WB from January 18, 1995, to July 25, 1999. The series starred Robert Townsend and Suzzanne Douglas. Originally to be titled ''Father Knows Nothing'' (a parody of t ...

'', '' Married... with Children'', '' Moesha'', ''

That's So Raven ''That's So Raven'' is an American television teen sitcom that was created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman, and aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between January 2003 and November 2007. The series centers on Raven Baxter (Raven-S ...

'', ''

'', '' My Wife and Kids'' and '' Curb Your Enthusiasm''. She also hosted the short-lived BET show ''Oh Drama'' (2000). Whitley also had a small role in '' Next Friday'' as Craig's aunt Suga. She was one of the group called "The Adults", who were adult cast members in the earlier seasons of ''

All That ''All That'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by Brian Robbins and Michael Tollin, Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by ...

''. In the early spring of 2010, Whitley was a co-host with R&B musician

Brian McKnight Brian Kelly McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist. He is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range and melisma. McKnight is known for h ...

on the short-lived talk show ''The Brian McKnight Show''. From 2012 to 2013, Whitley had a recurring role on the BET comedy '' Let's Stay Together'' as Charmaine Wax. Kym's reality

docu-series Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

entitled '' Raising Whitley'' on the Oprah Winfrey Network premiered on April 20, 2013 with a total of 1.2 million viewers, making it the fifth most-widely viewed premiere in the history of the network. OWN ordered a second season, which premiered on January 4, 2014. Whitley joined the cast of the television sitcom ''

'' which premiered on ABC Family (now Freeform) in 2014, where she plays Josh's housekeeper Yolanda. The show ran for five seasons, ending in 2018. In 2017, she guest starred in the web series ''The Bay'' where she played Big Candi. She received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actress in a Digital Daytime Drama Series. In 2018, she guest starred in the "

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

" episode of ''

Master of None ''Master of None'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television series, which was released for streaming on November 6, 2015, on Netflix. The series was created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, with the first two seasons starring Ansari in the ...

'' as Denise's aunt Joyce, and sister to Angela Bassett's character. The episode won an Emmy for Best Writing for ''Master of None's'' actors

Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series '' Mas ...

and

Lena Waithe Lena Waithe (born May 17, 1984) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is the creator of the Showtime drama series ''The Chi'' (2018–present) and the BET comedy series ''Boomerang'' (2019–20) and '' Twenties'' (2020–pres ...

, she's been a recurring guest host on E! Daily Pop & Nightly pop since December 2020

Causes

In 2013, Whitley and her friend Rodney Van Johnson launched a line of t-shirts titled "Don't Feed Me." The shirts alert caregivers about children who have specific

food allergies A food allergy is an abnormal immune response to food. The symptoms of the allergic reaction may range from mild to severe. They may include itchiness, swelling of the tongue, vomiting, diarrhea, hives, trouble breathing, or low blood pressur ...

Personal life

Whitley has two older brothers, Kyle and Scott. In January 2011, Whitley adopted her son, Joshua.

Filmography

Film

Television

Documentary

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitley, Kym Living people Actors from Shaker Heights, Ohio Actresses from Tennessee Fisk University alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses African-American female comedians American women comedians American voice actresses American television actresses African-American actresses American film actresses Actresses from Ohio Comedians from Ohio 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people Year of birth missing (living people)